


Iratus anguis

by Poisonerrose



Category: Three Dark Crowns Series - Kendare Blake
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Mention of blood, Natalia arron lives au, Natalia is a very angry mother, No beta we die like queens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23718946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poisonerrose/pseuds/Poisonerrose
Summary: "Five people have died tonight, give me one reason why I shouldn't make it six."Pietyr's eyes widen, and he gapes like a fish out of water, desperate for words that won't get him killed. He's terrified. But she will wait, wait for whatever excuse he could think of.Or alternately, Natalia finds out that Pietyr pushed Kat into the Breccia Domain.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Iratus anguis

**Author's Note:**

> Iratus anguis means Angry snake in Latin

Natalia was angry. Angrier than she had been when Chatworth had tried to choke the life out of her only hours earlier. Angrier than she had been when Katharine chose Nicolas.

Pietyr had tossed her child into the Breccia Domain and left her to die. The nerve he had, to give up on their queen and look her in the eye amidst her grief and pretend like he wasn't responsible.

He's lucky she didn't kill him the moment he entered Kat's room. If Kat hadn't been sobbing in her arms, he would have been dead. She would have killed him amid her rage. The only thing that was keeping him alive now was that he was Christophe's son.

"Are you okay? Can I at least get you something for your neck?" Natalia jumps and nearly hurls her glass of brandy at her nephew, the source of her new set of problems and her newfound fury.

"Do I need to teach you how to knock?" She asks, sitting back down in her seat. "Don't startle me like that again."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Natalia." Pietyr glances down at his feet before smiling at her sheepishly as if he were a child. "The drug you used worked. Katharine is asleep."

"Good, she needs it." Natalia says. She pulls the knife out of her sleeve and places it on her desk, all the while watching Pietyr's eyes widen. It wouldn't be long until Katharine woke, but it would give her the time she needed to deal with her nephew.

She stays silent and watches her nephew squirm in place, waiting for what would come next. He's scared, she notes. She guesses it's finally dawning on him, just about how many people have died in this study. And that he may be next.

After a few moments of silence, she stands and walks over to her nephew, placing her hands on his shoulders, ignoring his attempt to pull away.

"Pietyr?" She tilts her head to the side. "Did Katharine scream?"

"What?"

Natalia lets a furious smile cross over her face as she watches the boy pale.

"Did she scream, did she cry, did she beg?" She hisses, the words coming out in a torrent. The thought of her Kat begging for her life nearly makes her ill. But she cannot help but ask. She has to know.

"Aunt Natalia, I can explain-"

"Answer the fucking question, Pietyr."

"No." Pietyr glances down at his feet again, avoiding her gaze. "She didn't scream. She didn't have time to."

Natalia punches him so hard he nearly falls over. But she grabs him just in time to keep him from hitting the ground, even though she wants to let him fall.

"Do you even understand what you've done?" She growls. "You practically gave her to those spirits, you fucking idiot!"

"Listen-" Pietyr tries to wheel away from her, but she keeps him in place, holding the lapels of his jacket.

"I trusted you! I gave you a chance at power," Natalia shouts. "And this is how you repay me! By trying to kill my girl!"

"Aunt Natalia, please." Pietyr tries to pull away from her, but she tightens her grip on his jacket. "I didn't know about Arsinoe's bear, I thought the priestesses were trying to kill her."

"And they weren't. You would have known that had you bothered to show up." She jabs a finger into his chest. "You think I would have stood back and let them chop her into pieces. They would have had to kill me first." 

"I didn't want her to suffer-"

She punches him again—this time, she lets him fall.

"You didn't want her to suffer? So you attempted to kill her?" Natalia hisses, "What do you know about suffering?"

Pietyr doesn't answer her, he only picks himself up off the floor. His silence only increases her fury.

"I spent years watching Katharine suffer. Did I give up on her for that? No. Never." She circles back to her desk and tosses him a cloth to wipe his bloody nose. "And you have the audacity to call yourself an Arron. You’re a disgrace."

Once again, the room is met in silence as Pietyr tries to recover, tries to find some justification for what he did. But there is none. There was nothing he could ever say that would make her forgive him.

All Natalia can think about is how frightened Katharine must have been. Alone at the bottom of the breccia domain, with vengeful spirits preying on her suffering.

Natalia picks up the knife she’d left on her desk and points the blade at him. She won't kill him, but she wants him to be afraid; she wants him to know what it's like to have his life in hands other than his own.

"Five people have died tonight, give me one reason why I shouldn't make it six." 

Pietyr's eyes widen, and he gapes like a fish out of water desperate for words that won't get him killed. He's terrified. But she will wait, wait for whatever excuse he could think of.

"You wouldn't..." He whispers, after a few beats of silence. It earns him a harsh laugh as a response. "You wouldn't do that."

"Relax, boy, I'm not going to kill you. But know that the only reason you are still alive is that you are my nephew." She slips the knife back into the sleeve of her bloodied dress. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Aunt Natalia."

She walks back over to him and pulls him into her arms, placing her chin on top of his head.

"Go back to your father, Pietyr, try to make amends with him while you still can because I'll never allow you to step foot in any other Arron house again." She whispers. "You're done, Pietyr."

"What about Katharine?"

"She'll be upset, I'm sure. But she'll understand this was for the best. She's better off without you." Natalia says. "I want you gone before she wakes up."

With that, she kisses the top of his head and takes one last glance at her nephew before leaving him alone in the study, to go back to Katharine.

By the time she makes it to her bedroom to find Katharine still fast asleep, the regret and pain have been purged from her mind and heart, and the tears have stopped.

She would not allow herself to be saddened by her nephew's betrayal any longer, she would not let herself think of him ever again. Natalia had other things to worry about now. She had an island to rule.


End file.
